The Department of Banking and Insurance has revised parts of its contentious plan to clamp down on the rising medical costs that insurance companies pay for auto accident victims.

About 25 percent of a 219-page proposal to reform the state's rules on personal injury protection coverage has been amended in light of comments the department received, and will be reissued for another round of public input, the department said yesterday. The banking department's initial proposal, issued last year, garnered more than 18,000 public comments and was the subject of a heated day-long hearing in the state Assembly.

The department's proposal looks to cap PIP expenses, in part, by creating fee schedules for hundreds of medical procedures not covered by regulation.

Insurance companies have urged the reform, saying fraud and abuse of PIP, which covers medical expenses regardless of fault, is driving up insurance costs.

But medical providers and plaintiffs' attorneys have fought the plan, saying the changes would be too restrictive.

The revised plan, among other things, looks to create a new fee schedule for hospital outpatient surgical facilities, delete 117 fees for spinal and neurosurgical procedures from the physician's fee schedule and delete references to workers' compensation managed care organizations from PIP protocols.

A 60-day comment period on the amendments opens Feb. 21.

Once these are considered, the department will act to either approve or deny the entire proposed rule.